The former implies extreme ignorance, the later implies agency capture to the point the FCC is no longer a public institution.
As a reminder: the overwhelming public opinion and media coverage was on outrage over the fraudulent comments prior to Pai announcing that the public had shown support for ending Net Neutrality. That alone should be grounds for having him tried. At what point can you no longer legally get away with malicious lying for profit? I think he crossed that line, which is impressive.
You can't put industry insiders into top regulatory positions of the very industries they work for, you have to be a drooling moron to not see why that's a bad idea, much less unethical. The fact that both parties are okay with it should speak volumes.